THE GLOBAL ENERGY GROUP MAGAZINE
issue one
RISING TO EXTREME CHALLENGES
Hammerfest LNG Plant
BORGHOLM DOLPHIN
Shaping up for new role
CROMARTY FIRTH
Open for business
www.gegroup.com
CONTENTS
Chairman’s Foreword
EXPLORATION DRILLING
& MARINE
Welcome to ENERGY, the Global Energy Group’s new
magazine. The idea of the magazine is to inform customers
and other readers about the quality and value that we bring
to projects as an execution partner to the international
energy industry.
4 BORGHOLM DOLPHIN Project
6 KEY MANHATTAN Project
8 APACHE II Project
OIL & GAS PRODUCTION
Reflecting the five key markets in which we work
throughout the UK and around the world, the mix
of project reports, features and news stories in
ENERGY illustrates the range of activities in
which we are involved.
10 OPEN FOR BUSINESS
16 DELIVERING FOR BRAE ALPHA
I hope you find it an informative and
useful read.
PETROCHEMICAL & PROCESS
Roy MacGregor
Chairman of the Global Energy Group
18 RISING TO EXTREME CHALLENGES
POWER GENERATION & UTILITIES
26 GLOBAL PRIDE IN HYDRO
SCHEME SUCCESS
28 ALCAN Project
NEW AGE RENEWABLE ENERGY
32 ON THE CREST OF THE MARINE
POWER WAVE
Global Energy Group
Headquarters
In-Spec House,
Wellheads Drive,
Dyce, Aberdeen,
Scotland,
AB21 7GQ
Tel: +44 (0) 1224 356500
Fax: +44 (0) 1224 356655
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.gegroup.com
Editor: Alistair Gordon
Editorial Content: Stan Arnaud
Photography: Derek Gordon
Design: Andrew O’Connor & Alistair Gordon
This magazine is published in-house by the Global Energy Group.
Reproduction of this publication in whole or in part is strictly
prohibited without prior written consent of the publisher.
Issue one © Global Energy Group
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Borgholm
Dolphin
shaping up
for new
role
The Global Energy Group is currently
carrying out its latest major rig inspection,
repair and maintenance project at
Invergordon.
Valued at £4.5 million and including
several Global business units, the work on
the Borgholm Dolphin involves a workforce
of around 100.
The accommodation rig, owned by
Dolphin Drilling Ltd, was towed into
Invergordon in June, the latest in a long
line of offshore vessels to come to the
port for inspection, repair and
maintenance.
The Group’s scope included refurbishing
the rigs galley, replacing flooring and
upgrading accommodation cabins.
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Beyond the main workscope we also
carried out a number of repairs and
upgrades on the vessel.
Built in 1975, the semi-submersible rig
can provide accommodation for 314
personnel, housed in double berth cabins.
She had been a familiar sight anchored
in the Cromarty Firth off Invergordon for a
number of months, before being towed in
to the dock.
Dolphin Drilling announced this summer
that they had entered into a contract with
BP Exploration Operating Company Ltd to
provide the Borgholm Dolphin. The nine
month contract, supporting operations in
the Andrew field in the UK sector of the
North Sea, will start in the first quarter of 2011.
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5
Key
Manhattan
rapid
response
Reel once again demonstrated their
ability to respond rapidly to meet
customers’ requirements when they were
contracted for a project in the Adriatic.
The Reel office in Invergordon were
requested at short notice to mobilise a
team of 20 multi-disciplined rope access
technicians to take over work on
Transocean’s jack-up rig, the Key
Manhattan, in Croatia.
Within the first week the Reel team was
increased to over 50 technicians with the
scope being to bring the legs and derrick
up to standard for Italian waters. This
required a full blast of all steel areas
bringing the surface to SA2.5 grade and
the application of an offshore three coat
paint system in red and white to fit with
Italian aviation laws. All these works were
carried out at heights of up to 400ft in
various weather conditions.
The project, worth over £2.5 million,
lasted for 3 months and was a great
success adding to Reel’s great safety
record for working at heights.
Images: REEL Group
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Apache II project
Technip’s new vessel, the Apache II, has
replaced the Apache, which played a
major role in delivering the pipelay
infrastructure of the North Sea over the
past 30 years.
The new vessel took shape at yards in
Spain and Finland, before coming to the
Cromarty Firth for snagging work, carried
out by Global Energy Group companies.
Within the first two weeks there were
approximately 200 people working on
the project prior to it going to sea for
trials where the crew laid and hauled up
lengths of pipe. She then returned to
Invergordon, where around 40 Isleburn
personnel carried out further work, with
some of them sailing with the vessel on
test runs.
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At the height of the work approximately
1,000 man hours per week were being
logged – giving an indication of the scale
of the project.
Technip has since announced that they
have won a contract, worth approximately
70 million euros, by Total E&P UK Limited,
as operator of the Islay Gas Field, to
deliver a full engineering, procurement,
construction and installation (EPCI) project
in the UK North Sea
The contract will involve the world's first
subsea implementation of Technip's
reelable, electrically trace heated pipein-pipe (ETH-PIP) technology. ETH-PIP aims
to enhance production operability of
subsea pipelines that are liable to
become blocked by the formation of
Images: Global Energy Group
hydrates or wax. Successful application of
this technology will reduce capital and
operating costs for fields with challenging
flow assurance conditions.
The full workscope covers installation of
a 6-kilometer ETH-PIP, control umbilical,
subsea structures and seabed
preparation, including detailed design,
engineering and project management.
Offshore installation is scheduled for
mid-2011 and will be carried out by
vessels from the Technip fleet, including
the Apache II and diving support vessels
Skandi Arctic, on which Global has also
carried out work, and the Skandi Achiever.
Skandi Arctic, Invergordon
OIL & GAS PRODUCTION
Open for
business
Fabrication facilities in the Scottish Highlands
have a proud place in the history of North Sea oil
and gas, having built many of the structures that
made production possible during the pioneering
years. Now a new generation of facility is ready
to build the massive topsides and other
equipment needed to meet the challenges the
industry faces in the 21st Century.
Alba, Andrew, Arbroath, Douglas, Elgin
Franklin, Eider, North Everest, Forties
Charlie, Forties Delta, South-east Forties,
Fulmar A, Hutton, Ivanhoe-Rob Roy,
Lennox, Lomond, Magnus, Ninian North,
Ninian South.
The role call of platforms that emerged
from the shores of the Cromarty Firth, in
the Scottish Highlands, between the early
1970s and late 1990s reads like a who’s
who of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Large scale fabrication on the shores of
the Cromarty Firth began when Highland
Fabricators (later named BARMAC) won
the contract to build a 7,000 tonne
platform for BP’s historic West Sole gas
field in the southern North Sea at Nigg Yard.
As discoveries of oil in the waters further
north mounted, BP returned to the yard
with an order for one of four platforms
planned for the Forties Field.
Nicknamed “Highland One” the 19,800
tonne Forties Charlie, completed in 1974,
was the first of the massive steel lattice
platform jackets built for the North Sea.
Modern historians have likened the years
of platform fabrication to a second
industrial revolution in Scotland, pointing
out that such feats of frontier engineering
had not been seen in the country since
the building of the iconic Forth Rail Bridge.
Over the years a further four platforms
were built for BP at Nigg and other
operators, including Shell, Chevron,
Amerada, Amoco, followed suit by
placing orders there. At the height of
production the workforce at the yard was
around 5,000-strong. Around 40 per cent
of the topsides currently in use in the North
Sea were built at Nigg and the Highlands’
other fabrication yards.
The influence of the oil and gas
industry’s activities in the Cromarty Firth
area over the past 40 years has been
deep and lasting. The heydays of
platform production are now part of the
Cromarty Firth’s history. But businesses and
a workforce with a wealth of experience
gained from them, and the ability to
adapt skills and knowledge to the
changing needs of its market, have
ensured the area has remained at the
forefront of service delivery to the industry.
Neil MacArthur, COO Isleburn, with the new Invergordon facility.
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...Open for business
In the words of oil industry historian,
Dr Bill Mackie: “Even around the
fabrication sites, now deserted save one,
there is only gratitude to these standard
bearers of a second industrial revolution.
The transfusion of new blood and ideas
has permeated education, academic
research and the arts, while an imported
spirit of enterprise has spawned homegrown firms, now learning to reach out
beyond the North Sea to deploy their
hard-won talents throughout the world’s
emergent oilfields, in a rebirth of
Scotland’s proud tradition of investing
overseas.”
Engineering and fabrication company
Isleburn is a shining example of the spirit
of enterprise and endeavour Dr Mackie
describes.
Part of the Global Energy Group’s family
of companies, the business has facilities
around the Cromarty Firth, including the
lease of large fabrication shops at the
Nigg Yard, as well as in Aberdeen and
Dunfermline.
Under the stewardship of chief
operating officer Neil MacArthur, Isleburn
has developed into one of Scotland’s
largest manufacturers of bespoke
products to a range of energy sector
markets, with annual revenues in excess
of £70 million and employing a workforce
of more than 1,000. The company has
been highly successful in supplying
subsea and topside equipment to
operators in the North Sea and around
the world.
A seasoned industry professional, Neil
was involved in many of the landmark
platform projects at Nigg, before that
phase came to a close in 1999.
He is confident that Isleburn’s latest
major investment – 81m (L) x 31.5m (W)
state-of-the-art fabrication assembly shop
at Invergordon Service Base capable of
producing topsides of up to 5,000 tonnes
– will see the Cromarty Firth remain
synonymous with large scale offshore
projects for many years to come.
Neil said: “Since Isleburn became part
of the Global Energy Group we have
steadily developed from a business with a
turnover of around £8 million a year and
a relatively small workforce to the position
we are now in at the forefront of Scottish
fabrication and engineering operations
for the customers in the energy industry.
“In addition to our existing facilities this
superb new facility at Invergordon is a
highly important development for us that
will enable us to guarantee the scale,
capacity and capability customers
require for fabrication and assembly of
projects such as large-scale topsides.
“The facility is positioned on the
quayside, giving direct access to the
deep water needed to ship such
structures out from the port and our
workforce combines the skills and
experience required to deliver the highest
quality work. We also benefit from the
shared strengths of being part of a major
international company like the Global
Energy Group.
“Our message to the industry is that with
what we have to offer through this new
facility the Cromarty Firth is very much
open for business for large-scale
fabrication.”
Shell Shearwater ready for load out in 2009.
Invergordon
Facility Specification
Fabrication/Assembly Shop:
26,000 sq.ft
Dimensions:
30m (width) x 80m (length)
Quayside:
Minimum draft: 9m – 14.5m
Craneage:
4 x 20Te
Access:
Full crane height 22m x 30m width
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2010 Cromarty Firth
load out of hydrocyclone
and sand seperator
skids, for delivery to
Singapore. Duplex
pressure vessels and
pipework.
Images: Global Energy Group / Stock Photography
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Delivering for
Brae Alpha
project
Two integrated skids to house a new
power generation system on Marathon’s
Brae Alpha platform in the North Sea were
successfully completed and loaded out
by the Global Energy Group.
In one of their biggest projects in the UK
this year, Marathon are replacing two of
the four jet engines that drive the power
generators on the platform. The Rolls
Royce Olympus Engines, the same model
as those used on Concorde, are being
replaced by two 30 megawatt
generators, supplied by General Electric.
The £2.1million contract to build the
skids and fit the associated pipework was
awarded to O.I.L., which earlier this year
joined the Global Energy Group’s Isleburn
fabrication and engineering brand.
Involving approximately 32,000 manhours
of work, the project was carried out at
their premises at Aberdeen Harbour.
Weighing 250 tonnes, the 28 metrelong skids were recently loaded out to be
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transported by barge to the platform 168
miles north-east of Aberdeen. Propelled
motorised trailers rather than cranes were
used for the delicate load-out operation.
The skids will replace identical ones
currently on the platform.
Terry Willox, Isleburn’s Aberdeen-based
Proposals Director, was pleased with the
successful completion of the project.
“We were successful in winning this
contract on price, experience and,
importantly, on our location. This was a
project where the client required good
quayside fabrication and engineering
facilities in Aberdeen and we were able to
provide exactly that.
“This project progressed well from when
we started work on it last November to the
successful load-out and, from the highly
positive feedback we have received, we
know the client has been very pleased
with our work throughout.”
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PETROCHEMICAL & PROCESS
Rising to
extreme
challenges
New technology and extraordinary feats of
engineering have enabled energy extracted from
deep below inhospitable waters within the Arctic
Circle to supply power to America and Europe.
A leader in international welding contracting, the
Global Energy Group has enhanced its reputation as
part of this pioneering project in one of the world’s
most inaccessible regions.
Image: Stock Photography
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Natural gas liquids and condensate are
piped 143km from Snøhvit to the Melkøya
processing plant. Specially developed
technology, involving injecting antifreeze
at the wellheads and heating the pipeline
electronically, is used to prevent the high
pressure and low temperatures freezing
unprocessed output from the wells.
Work to build the plant, the first of its kind
in Europe, began on the previously
uninhabited Melkøya Island in 2002.
The development was the biggest
construction project Norway had seen.
Ben Macintyre, a correspondent for The
Times, described it as “one of the largest
and coldest building sites in the world”
when he visited the facility in 2006.
Two 125,000m³ LNG tanks were
constructed, along with a 75,000m³
condensate tank and a 45,000m³ LPG
tank and associated pipework.
Offering the specialist welding
capability needed for the high grade
steel, Duplex and Super Duplex used in
much of the pipework and with
considerable experience of working in
Norway, Global Project Services (GPS) was
contracted to work on the development
of the plant between 2006 and 2008.
Gavin MacDonald, director of GPS,
which from its base in Invergordon in the
Scottish Highlands supplies teams of
qualified, highly skilled and experienced
workers to projects worldwide, explained
the company’s role at Hammerfest.
He said: “As a specialist welding,
mechanical and piping contractor, our
primary focus was on the high pressure
process pipework.
“We were involved in the piping
installation, commissioning and testing
and the onus was on us to get the
pipework welded as safely and efficiently
as possible.
“Our ability as a specialist contractor to
deliver a high-end service safely, cost-
effectively, with minimal weld repair rates,
using manual techniques, was critical to
the success of this project.”
Gavin said one of the key elements to
GPS’s successful delivery of the contract
was that the teams that travelled to
Hammerfest had been with the company
for years and had considerable
experience of working on similar projects.
“These are skilled, qualified teams as
we believe in investing in our people to
ensure they have the high levels of skills
our clients need,” he added.
The first cargo from Snøhvit for the
European market was delivered by
the Arctic Princess in October 2007, with
the first consignment for the US arriving
in Maryland aboard the Arctic
Discoverer. Around 70 cargos of LNG a
year are expected to be shipped out
from the plant.
Image: Stock Photography
Hammerfest’s coat of arms – a silver polar
bear on a red background – is a sign of
the Norwegian city’s position as a
stepping off point on the margins of the
habitable world.
Located 70 degrees north – around the
same latitude as the most northern parts
of Siberia, Point Barrow in Alaska, the Arctic
Islands of Canada and the centre of
Greenland – the community claims to be
the world’s most northerly city.
In summer, when the sun shines
continuously for two months, reindeer
wander the streets, having found their way
through the 4ft high fence built round the
city to keep them out. During the harsh,
snowy winters Hammerfest is shrouded in
continuous darkness for two months – an
issue the community overcame by
installing Norway’s first electric street
lighting in 1891. The polar bear on the
municipal crest was chosen to symbolise
the fishing of the polar seas to the north.
A hub for early Arctic exploration and
commerce in the early 21st century,
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Hammerfest is a centre of pioneering
innovation that has succeeded in
overcoming the immense natural
challenges of one of the world’s most
inaccessible regions.
Just across the bay from the city, on
Melkøya Island, one of the world’s most
advanced plants has been built to
process natural gas extracted from the
Snøhvit (Snow White) field, the first offshore
development in the Barents Sea.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by
the plant, which came on stream in
August 2007, is being delivered to
customers in the East Coast of America
and Southern Europe.
Discovered in the early 1980s, around
140km north-west of Hammerfest, the
Snøhvit field has been developed by
Norway’s largest oil and gas company
Statoil and five partners.
The development marked an important
breakthrough for energy production in the
challenging Arctic regions where a
significant amount of the world’s
remaining oil and gas reserves are
located. New technology has been a vital
element of securing sustainable
production in a region where workers,
vessels and the environment are more
vulnerable.
A total of 20 wells are due to produce
gas from the Snøhvit field and its
associated Askeladd and Albatross fields.
The three fields have estimated reserves
of 300 billion cubic metres of LNG and 20
million cubic metres of condensate. With
six already drilled, a total of nine wells are
planned on Snøhvit, eight for production
and one for injecting carbon dioxide
back below ground.
With no surface installations or floating
units, all the Snøhvit field’s subsea
production facilities stand on the sea bed
at depths of 250-345m, sheltered from
the elements above and controlled
remotely from onshore. The seabed
equipment has been designed to allow
fishing trawlers to operate in the area with
out risk of their nets being entangled.
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POWER GENERATION & UTILITIES
Green energy
from the glens
Hydro electric generation has been helping power Scotland
since long before the current drive to develop renewable energy
sources began. With a history stretching back 120 years in the
north, hydro also has an important future as part of that 21st
century drive, through new schemes and existing facilities.
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First developed in the late 19th century,
hydro electricity is produced using the
power of running water to turn the turbines
of generators in power stations. With
mountains, lochs and high rainfall the
Scottish Highlands have an abundance
of the elements required for the process.
In 1890 a group of Benedictine monks
were responsible for the area’s first public
supply of hydro electricity which provided
power for their abbey at Fort Augustus
and to 800 inhabitants of the local
community at the west end of Loch Ness.
Forty years later the first large scale
scheme came into operation at Rannoch
and Tummel Bridge in Perthshire.
In 1943 the Hydro Electric Development
(Scotland) Act was passed, resulting in the
establishment of the North of Scotland
Hydro Electric Board to manage hydro
generation in the north. At that time it was
estimated that just one farm in six and
one croft in a hundred in the Highlands
and Islands had electricity.
Initial attempts to get approval for
projects met strong opposition and it was
not until 1950 that the board’s first
scheme, at Sloy, near Loch Lomond, was
commissioned.
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The following years saw a massive
construction programme involving
excavation of more than 300 km of
tunnels and building of a similar length of
aquaducts and pipelines. A 32,000 km
distribution network of pylons and poles
was created, with 110 km of underwater
cables laid to carry power to the islands.
At its peak the workforce numbered
12,000, comprising British workmen,
German and Italian former prisoners of
war and Poles and Czechs who lived in
large camps by the projects.
By 1965, 54 main power stations and
78 dams had been built, with a total
generating capacity of more than 1,000
MW, bringing power to people’s homes
throughout the Highlands and Islands.
A recent major refurbishment programme
has ensured the schemes will continue
generating electricity for many years
to come.
Following the massive efforts of the
1950s and early 1960s, it was to be 50
years before another large scale
conventional hydro electric station was
built in the Highlands. In 2009 the Queen
officially opened the £150million, 100MW
Glendoe plant built by SSE at Glendoe.
SSE also has plans to develop two
large-scale pumped storage schemes in
the Great Glen area of the central
Highlands. With a combined generation
capacity of 900 MW they would be able
to provide more than 1,000 gigawatt
hours of electricity annually to help meet
peak demands. They would be the first
to be developed in the UK for more than
35 years to use the pumped storage
technique, where, during low power
demand periods water is pumped from
a loch to an upper reservoir, then
released to generate power during high
demand periods.
Recent years have seen widescale
recognition of the potential for small
scale hydro schemes to contribute to
Scotland’s renewable energy targets and
benefit communities.
Earlier this year a report to the Scottish
Government identified 7,000 potential
small hydro schemes, mostly with
capacity of less than 5MW, but with a
combined potential of 1,204 MW,
sufficient to supply one million homes.
A major proportion of the identified
schemes are in the Highlands and
Islands.
Global pride
in hydro scheme
success
When electricity was generated for the first
time by a new hydro scheme near
Ullapool on the west coast of the Scottish
Highlands, it was a proud day for Global
Construction.
The company played a key role as
principal contractors on the project,
carrying out the multi-million pound civil
engineering, mechanical, electrical and
commissioning work for power company
RWE npower Renewables.
Construction work on the Inverlael Hydro
Scheme began in March 2008 and was
completed in May 2009. The 2.5
megawatt (MW) run-of-river development
was built within an existing forestry
plantation by Loch Broom in Wester Ross.
The hydro scheme utilises the waters of
the Allt Mor and River Lael. An intake in
each river abstracts water and passes it
through two pipes which combine before
entering the powerhouse. The abstracted
water is then fed through twin turbines to
generate up to 2.5MW of electricity
before being returned to the watercourse.
The scheme was designed to produce
enough electricity to supply the average
annual needs of about 1500 homes.
During the construction phase various
safeguards were employed to protect the
environment and to allow the free
passage of walkers and other recreational
users in the area. With construction
complete the scheme generated its first
electricity on Wednesday 6 May 2009.
The reliability run started on 14 May, when
one of a group of visiting third year
geography students from Ullapool High
School was invited to throw the switch.
RWE npower Renewables were
nominated for the success of the
Inverlael Hydroelectric Scheme.
The award recognises how the
renewable industry, projects and/or
initiatives can help to assist in achieving
wider environmental goals in tackling
climate change throughout Scotland.
Commenting after the successful
completion, Project Manager Mary Drury
of RWE npower Renewables said: “This
has definitely been a team effort, resulting
in a great scheme which will reliably
generate renewable electricity for many
years to come.”
The scheme was officially opened in
August 2009 by Scottish Environment
Minister Roseanna Cunningham. The
Minister said: “By becoming a smarter
energy consumer and a greener energy
producer, Scotland can help make a
difference in the fight to mitigate the
impact of climate change. “This new
scheme at Inverlael illustrates how the
Scottish Government and the private
sector can work with communities to
change our energy habits to deliver
environmental, social and economic
benefits for all.”
“
This has
definitely been a
team effort, resulting
in a great scheme
which will reliably
generate renewable
electricity for many
years to come.
”
Key facts at a glance
Inverlael Hydro Scheme
• 2.5MW run of river hydro scheme
• capable of generating 7GW/hr in a year
of average rainfall
• 2 intake weirs abstract water from rivers
Lael and Allt Mor
• water conveyed to turbine through
3.2km of 800mm and 1100mm diameter
buried GRP pipe
• 2 Francis turbines utilise a head of 120m
and flow of 2.9 cubic metres of water per
second at maximum generation
• power exported from 415V generators
to local 33kv grid
Image: Stock Photography
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Lochaber
Powerhouse
Global Construction teamed up with RossShire Engineering to deliver a major
refurbishment of the powerhouse at an
aluminium smelter in the Scottish
Highlands.
Originally built between 1924 and 1944, in
the shadow of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest
mountain, the Lochaber Aluminium
Smelter, in Fort William, was a major feat
of engineering.
Operated by Rio Tinto Alcan, the
smelter was built to generate
approximately 65 megawatts (MW) of
capacity, 95% of which is used to reduce
imported aluminium dioxide to aluminium
metal, with excess power being sold to
the National Grid. Discharged water exits
through the half mile tailrace into the River
Lochy.
The powerhouse was built with 12 DC
turbines, originally rated circa 6 MW. The
£2.5million refurbishment project focused
on breaking out 10 of the DC power sets
and replacing them with five 18 MW AC
sets, providing modern operating
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efficiencies and increasing generating
capacity by 50%.
Designed with a phased roll-out, the
refurbishment programme involved
removing and replacing two power sets
at a time, while still maintaining the
smelter’s operational power requirements.
Global Construction and Ross-Shire
Engineering’s wealth of experience in
hydro electric work was invaluable in a
project where all phases were timecritical.
A major part of the project involves
breaking out around 800m³ of existing
concrete and replacing them with new
structures requiring 1,000m³ of reinforced
concrete.
Among many challenges overcome
was the replacement of a number of MIV
stop log gate installations. To do this
divers entered the tailrace in a speciallydesigned dive cage, which offered them
protection from the turbulent waters
while locating, securing and sealing the
new gates.
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NEW AGE RENEWABLE ENERGY
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“
On the crest
of the marine
power wave
meters. The giant turbine is expected to
be environmentally benign due to a low
rotation speed whilst in operation and will
deliver predictable, sustainable power to
the local Orkney grid.
CEO of Atlantis, Timothy Cornelius, said:
“The unveiling and installation of the
AK1000™ is an important milestone, not
only for Atlantis, but for the marine power
industry in the United Kingdom.
Atlantis Resources Corporation (“Atlantis”),
one of the world’s leading developers of
electricity-generating tidal current
turbines, unveiled the largest and most
powerful tidal power turbine ever built, the
AK1000™ at Invergordon this summer.
Isleburn played a key role in the
fabrication and assembly of the
AK1000™, which has now been installed
at the European Marine Energy Centre
(“EMEC”), in Orkney, for testing.
Dignitaries, utilities and technology
partners from around the world attended
the unveiling of the flagship turbine at
Invergordon, taking the only opportunity to
view the turbine before it was loaded out
for transportation to Orkney.
Despatching 1MW of predictable power
at a water velocity of 2.65m/s, the
AK1000™ is capable of generating
enough electricity for over 1000 homes. It
is designed for harsh weather and rough,
open ocean environments such as those
found off the Scottish coast. The turbine
incorporates cutting edge technology
from suppliers across the globe, has an
18 meter rotor diameter, weighs 130
tonnes and stands at a height of 22.5
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ENERGY THE MAGAZINE
“It represents the culmination of 10
years of hard work, dedication and belief
from all our partners, staff, directors and
shareholders. The AK1000™ is capable of
unlocking the economic potential of the
marine energy industry in Scotland and
will greatly boost Scotland’s renewable
generation capacity in the years to
come.”
The gravity base structure and system
assembly of the AK1000™ was
completed by Isleburn, which is part of
the Global Energy Group. The nacelle was
fabricated by Soil Marine Dynamics in
Newcastle in England
Mr Cornelius added: “The AK1000™
development program has injected over
£5M to date into UK Plc’s renewable
energy sector and has provided
employment across a broad range of
sectors including design, engineering,
fabrication and project management.
“We are at the start of a new industrial
boom, akin to the development of the
North Sea oil & gas fields. If we receive
the same support from all levels of
government that the oil & gas industry
received to make the North Sea the
success that it is, then the future is very
bright for marine power.”
“We are at the
start of a new
industrial boom,
akin to the
development of
the North Sea oil &
gas fields”
At the Orkney testing centre, it took
seven days to install the gravity base
structure on its subsea base, with over
1,000 tonnes of ballast blocks and finally
the turbine nacelle, complete with its twin
set of 18 meter diameter rotors.
The project once again underlined
Isleburn’s position as leader in the field of
fabrication for the next generation of
renewable energy with the completion of
a prototype wave power device.
Earlier this year the company
completed work on the PowerBuoy, built
for Ocean Power Technologies.
Fabricated in four sections at Isleburn’s
Nigg facility, the device was also
transported from Invergordon to EMEC
for testing.
Previous successful renewable projects
that have enhanced Isleburn’s strong
credentials in a rapidly developing market
include fabrication of the Oyster wave
energy device for Aquamarine Power and
a tidal prototype for OpenHydro.
Isleburn also assembled, erected and
loaded out two of the world’s largest wind
turbines for the Beatrice offshore wind
demonstrator project.
As new technology
to generate power from
wind, wave and tidal
continues to emerge,
Global Energy Group are
in pole position to serve
this rapidly developing
industry, with an extensive
transferable skill base of
world-class oil and gas
experience stretching
back 40 years.
Isleburn’s Chief Operating Officer, Neil
MacArthur, said: “As these projects show,
we have built a very strong portfolio of
work for companies that are developing
the next generation of renewable
energy devices. This compliments our
long-established track record of
fabrication and engineering for the oil
and gas industry.
“Like our customers in those more
established sectors, companies that are
developing these new renewable devices
recognise the value we bring to their
projects through the combination of our
experience, expertise and excellent
facilities. We are proud to be working with
them at the forefront of development of
this very important sector.”
”
ENERGY THE MAGAZINE
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GLOBAL RECEIVES
INTERNATIONAL
TRADE AWARD
The Global Energy Group’s remarkable
success in international markets has been
recognised at an awards ceremony in
London. The group topped a new league
table of Britain’s privately-owned
companies with the fastest growing
overseas sales earlier this year.
Global’s achievement was rewarded
this week at the Sunday Times HSBC
International Track 100 awards dinner. At
the event Global chairman Roy
MacGregor was presented with a special
trophy by Noel Quinn, HSBC’s group
general manager and head of
commercial banking UK.
Global achieved top ranking in the
league with overseas sales growth of
416% from £1million in 2007 to
£27.8million in 2009. A quarter of the
company’s annual turnover comes from
international sales.
Mr MacGregor said: “This award
recognises the efforts of our people
throughout the Global team to take our
services into international markets in
recent years. They have done an
excellent job and continue to do so as
we develop our business both in the UK
and overseas.
“It also recognises the confidence of
our customers who have taken us around
the world, allowing us to develop a
sustainable model for internationalisation
and reduce the risks as we develop.”
Mr MacGregor was joined by his sons
Iain and Donald, who are both Global
Energy Group directors, at the ceremony,
which was held at the Jumeirah Carlton
Tower Hotel.
First Minister
praises REEL
Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, has
welcomed Reel’s plans to launch an
offshore inspection and maintenance
operation in India. Speaking on a visit to
Delhi, Mr Salmond said: “Scotland has a
long-established, strong reputation as a
global hub for oil and gas and I am
delighted that Reel are taking their skills
and expertise to the emerging Indian
energy market by establishing operations
in Mumbai. “The company’s decision to
create new offices reflects the enormous
opportunities for Scottish businesses in
India’s growing economy, particularly in
the fields of energy.”
MAJOR
CONTRACT
FOR SCS
ENSCO
FRAME
AGREEMENT
ANDREW
FIELD
CONTRACTS
Global Energy (SCS) has been awarded a
master agreement contract by BP
Exploration Operating Co Ltd for provision
of third party inspection services.
The contract period is three years plus
two one year options. The scope of work
includes inspections of wellhead
equipment, down-hole equipment,
pressure vessels, rotating machinery,
valves, line-pipe, OCTG, fabrications,
electrical and instrumentation equipment,
bulk supplied materials, lifting and safety
equipment, all world-wide.
Inspection and maintenance specialist
Reel has been awarded a five-year
inspection frame agreement with Ensco.
Ensco is a global provider of offshore
drilling services to the petroleum industry,
with a fleet of eight ultra-deepwater
semisubmersible rigs (including four under
construction) and 40 premium jackup rigs,
strategically located in the most prolific oil
and gas markets around the world.
Reel’s agreement with the company
involves their Euro/Asia drilling units.
Ensco said the contract was awarded
on merit, with Reel’s continued focus on
quality, safety and performance key
factors in their decision.
Part of the Global Energy Group, REEL
was formed in Aberdeen in 1995 to
provide comprehensive inspection and
testing services, including non-destructive
testing, to the oil and gas industry.
The business has built an exemplary
reputation as an international service
company, with global operations from key
international business locations in the
Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.
Leading fabrication and engineering
company Isleburn secured North Sea
contracts totaling nearly £5million with BP
for two projects which are being
assembled in its new facility at Invergordon.
Isleburn, part of the Global Energy
Group, is fabricating a 120 metre long
caisson for the Andrew Field platform as
well as a 245 tonne manifold and 65
tonne subsea isolation valve structure for
the Devenick field.
Work on the projects will involve an
estimated total of more than 40,000 man
hours and a workforce of 100 at Isleburn’s
facilities around the Cromarty Firth, with
the structures being assembled at the
new facility at Invergordon Service Base
for load-out next March.
Isleburn’s Chief Operating Officer Neil
MacArthur was delighted to secure the
major contracts.
He said: “Investing several million
pounds in building our new assembly
facility at Invergordon was a big decision
for us earlier this year, particularly at a time
of downturn in the oil and gas sector”.
“
The Group is wholly
Scottish-owned and is
headquartered in
Inverness with other
major presences in
Scotland; it is one of
the largest private
businesses in the
Highlands and Islands
and is the largest
private employer in
the region.
”
SQM independent economic impact report
GLOBAL ENERGY GROUP INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS
34
ENERGY THE MAGAZINE
“
In 2009/10, the Group
directly employed over 2,500
people across Scotland 1,760 in the Highlands and
Islands and 770 in the rest of
the country. When ‘indirect’
employment is added, the
total employment supported
in Scotland rose to 3,800. If
the Group’s target of £400
million turnover is achieved, it
is estimated that it could
support more then 10,000
jobs across Scotland by
2013/14.
”
SQM independent economic impact report
ENERGY THE MAGAZINE
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